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Old 05-20-2008, 07:17 AM
noppenbd noppenbd is online now
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If you are paying cash, you should be able to negotiate upfront with the hospital. They should be jumping over each other to get your business. Make sure you get the prices in writing.

Complications present a different story and I would make sure that those would be covered under your wife's HDHP. I'm sure there are plenty of completely normal pregnancies, but there are also many many stories of complications which did not cause any long term problems but just cost a lot of money. For instance our daughter spent her first week in the NICU and that ended up costing $20K or so. I would imagine a preemie would cost much more than that. Also check whether you have to pay coinsurance (some plans require 20% after deductible), which can be very costly. There is usually a max out-of-pocket per year per person. You could end up paying 2x the max out-of-pocket if the baby requires a NICU stay. I would spend some time getting very familiar with the details of your wife's plan.
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